Hong Kong: Department of Justice demands trainee lawyer explain accusations of hate speech directed at Hong Kong police

August 21, 2019

Hong Kong’s justice department has ordered a trainee lawyer to explain why he was accused of directing hate speech at local police on social media just days before he qualified to join the legal profession.

The Department of Justice on Tuesday wrote to the law firm where the soon-to-be solicitor, surnamed Chu, worked for two years to demand a response, two legal sources told the Post. Chu left the firm in June, but it has continued to represent him in the admission process.

Chu was expected to be formally admitted as a lawyer before Justice Anthony Chan at the High Court on Saturday.

In its letter to the firm, the justice department said it received a complaint objecting to Chu’s admission to the legal ranks and requesting a response from him by Wednesday.

According to the letter, the complaint accused Chu of posting the phrase “black cops and families go to hell” and other foul language against police on his Facebook on July 28.

…

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3023776/department-justice-demands-trainee-lawyer-explain

https://www.hkcnews.com/article/23023/律政司-黑警死全家-見習律師-23023/黑警死全家 (CANTONESE)

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1476147-20190822.htm (CANTONESE)

India: Bihar: Advocate shot dead near Buxar Civil Court

August 21, 2019

An advocate was shot dead on Wednesday by unidentified assailants here.
The advocate named Chitranjan Singh was returning from the Buxar Civil Court when the incident took place.
Singh belonged to the Sonhila village located in the Muffassil police station limits.
According to sources, the deceased was also the Village Head in the Village Panchayat of his area and there was a criminal case in which his name surfaced in the past.

https://www.andhrapradeshmirror.com/news/bihar-advocate-shot-dead-near-buxar-civil-court20190821191930/

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/lawyer-shot-dead-in-buxar/articleshow/70776637.cms

Lawyer shot dead in Buxar

https://www.bhaskar.com/bihar/patna/news/bihar-news-buxar-lawyer-shot-dead-in-court-campus-01622723.html?ref=tpst-msn (HINDI)

Australia/Timor Leste: East Timor bugging lawyer returns to court

August 22, 2019

A lawyer at the centre of a diplomatically sensitive bugging scandal involving Australia and East Timor has returned to court.

Bernard Collaery appeared before the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday for the last in a series of preliminary hearings.

Collaery will next face a “national security” hearing at court on December 11 to determine what documents are kept secret in his matter.

It is understood he will only then be able to explain the case to his own lawyers.

Outside the Canberra courthouse, his counsel would not elaborate on the proceedings, simply saying they were “getting somewhere”.

Collaery, who is accused of revealing information about the bugging of East Timor’s cabinet rooms in 2004, is fighting the charge.

However his former intelligence officer client known only as Witness K will plead guilty over his alleged role in the affair.

The pair’s cases are now being dealt with separately, with Witness K expected to be sentenced at a later date.

https://7news.com.au/politics/east-timor-bugging-lawyer-returns-to-court-c-411962

https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/6342217/east-timor-bugging-lawyer-returns-to-court/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-11/bernard-collaery-speaks-about-being-charged-with/9982448?pfmredir=sm&section=business

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-26/xanana-gusmao-offers-to-give-evidence-in-witness-k-trial/11436286

https://www.change.org/p/pm-morrison-drop-the-charges-against-bernard-collaery-and-witness-k (SIGN THE PETITION!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Collaery

https://www.jornaltornado.pt/processos-judiciais-contra-o-sr-bernard-collaery/ (PORTUGUES)

 

PM Morrison: Drop the Charges Against Bernard Collaery and Witness K – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/QsUuqnDRcT via @ChangeAUS

— sarah healy (@LoislaneHealy) August 21, 2019

There's a demonstration planned at the ACT Supreme Court for 8:30am this Thursday, 22/08—supporting truth-telling lawyer Bernard Collaery and Afghan Files whistleblower David McBride. If you're in Canberra and you can, get down and show your solidarity + support. #witnessk pic.twitter.com/vEYLsVQj3g

— Sophie Raynor (@raynorsophie) August 20, 2019

 

 

 

“Bernard Collaery, to his great credit, came through for the East Timorese. He assisted them in putting their case at the International Court of Justice at The Hague,” writes Gadfly columnist ROBERT MACKLIN https://t.co/ur9NnMmMLy pic.twitter.com/iDlkbsqFfN

— Canberra CityNews (@city_news) August 20, 2019

 

 

Join us next Tuesday for an insight into the prosecution of #bernardcollaery and #witnessk register online at https://t.co/XGKq1A4FWp #timorleste #auspol #aiiaact pic.twitter.com/rsz9TXnz3s

— International Affairs ACT (@aiiaact) August 19, 2019

Indonesia/West Papua: ‘It opened my eyes’: the Indonesian woman fighting for West Papuan rights

April 29, 2019

Lawyer Veronica Koman has been called a traitor and faced death threats as part of her legal battle to hold Indonesia’s police to account

An Indonesian human rights lawyer is among those taking the Indonesian police to court on behalf of all West Papuans, in an unprecedented civil case over what she claims is the illegal takeover of an activist group’s headquarters.

Veronica Koman is part of a legal coalition bringing the civil suit which is the first of its kind, and although it focuses on one particular incident, is seen as a landmark case in the fight for West Papuan independence from Indonesia.

The case – she is pursing police for more than $100,000 in damages over their raid of an activist group’s headquarters on New Year’s Eve – has come at a personal cost.

Koman, who travels to West Papua to represent those charged with separatism-related crimes, told the Guardian her work has led to abuse and death threats.

At a December rally she and others were pelted with rocks by fellow Indonesians, and she became the specific target of anti-separatist protests, sending her into hiding. “It was pretty rough … people were screaming at me: ‘you traitor, you are funding this separatism’,” she said.

Koman said she used to be “very nationalistic” when she was working as a legal aid officer in Jakarta. But when she learned of the shooting deaths of four schoolchildren by Indonesian authorities in December 2014 she became involved in public demonstrations and met West Papuan independence activists.

…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/29/it-opened-my-eyes-the-indonesian-woman-fighting-for-west-papuan-independence

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/19/protesters-set-fire-to-parliament-building-in-west-papua-as-tensions-mount

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/396876/more-than-150-west-papuans-arrested-in-demonstrations-lawyer

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/21/asia-pacific/indonesia-deploys-troops-papua-hit-fresh-unrest/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/indonesia-blocks-internet-west-papua-protest-rages-190822022809234.html